Safety device for drilling derricks



Oct-6,1925 1,556,555

' r A. A. BROWN SAFETY DEVICE FOR DRILLING mamucxs Filed April 30, 1925 Patented Oct. 6, 1925.

ALVYADELBERT BROWN, or time BEACH, CALIFORNIA.

1,55 ,555 PATENT OFFICE.

SAFETY nEvIoia roanmnnmeimnmcxs.

Application filed April 30, 1925. Serial No. 27,119. i

To all 'uihom it may concern:

Be it known t at- I, ALVY ADEL E T BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Long Beach, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Drilling Derricks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in 7 safety devices for drilling derricks used in drilling oil wells and the like.

' objectof this invention ,is to provide I a safety device for the man working in the top of the derrick.

A great danger has been experienced for the derrick man or the man working in the i top of a drilling derrick when oil wells come in as \gushers'or.gasers. The oil or gas streams upwardly through the wellcasing in such cases and gushes up through the derrick and frequently catches fire for any one of a number of reasons. It frequentlyhappens that the boiler for supplying steam to the drilling machineryis arranged too, close to the well hole and sometimes the gas or oil catches fire because of this. Italso happens i that rocks or sand striking the derrick", es-

pecially in the case where a steel derrick is used, produces a spark which ignites the oil or gas. When the gas or oil' gushes out of the well hole with considerable pressure, it

- not 'infrequently happens that the'drilling tube is thrownout of the well, smashing into the derrick. At all events the position of the when the'well comes in as asgaser or a derrick man, that is the man working at the top of the derrick, is a very dangerous one gusher, and in such cases it seldom. happens that the derrick man is able to get down out of the derrick alive. 7' p Some of the wooden derricks are provided with guy wires or guy cables, and it has been my experience that, when a well comes in as v a gaser or a gusher, the derrick man leaps for the guy wire, to slide: down it and thus get out of the derrick. \In nearly all cases sliding down the guy cable cuts the flesh or sustaining a serious injury.

upon his hands and the pain is such that as a last resort, he will let himself drop from the guy wire, resultingin his getting killed The primary object of this invention is to provide a safety appliance or device for a drilling derrick, which will enable the derrick man working at flhetop of the derrick to easilyand quickly get out of the der rickwith some degree-of safety.

Another obiect of this invention is to pro vide a device which can be easily and quickly constructed and which will not require changing any constructionupon the derrick, and which consists essentially of a cablefastened to the derrick at one 'end and anchored to the ground at a location remote from the base "of the derrick. This cable has a carriage movable thereon which is releasably maintained adjacent the derrick, so that the derrick man can readily place himself upon it and be carried to the ground at'a location remote from the base of the derrick.

A further object of this invention is to provide an efiicient braking device for the carriage so that the derrick man on travelcally pointed out in-t'heappended claims,

other objects in reference is had to the accompanying drawings-for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein: Flgure 1 1s aside elevation of a drilling derrick to which "my improved safety device has'been applied, i

Fig. 2 is aperspective view of the car riage, and

Fig. 3, is a vertical section taken substan-. tially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, the derrick is generally designated at D, which is of conventionalconstruction and which has a platform 10 arranged thereabo-ut somewhat adjacent its top. This platform is conventionally known as the run-around and, is used so that the derrick man working within the derrick adjacent the top can easily walk about the derrick 'during his work. Y

'My safety deviceconsists of a cable '11 which has its upper end secured, as at 12, to thederrick above the run-around 10. The lower endof the cableis anchored, as at 13, to the 'ground or to any other suitable support at a location remote from the base of the derrick. The cable 11 may constitute one of the guy cables for the derrick or may be a separate cable attached to Upon the cable there is movable a carriage, generally designated at 14. This carriage consists of a pair of members 15 and 16 which are arranged above the cable 11 upon opposite sides thereof. Grooved Wheels 17 and 18 are rotatably mounted between the members 15 and 16 at the ends thereof, and suspending members 19 and 20 are secured to the ends of the members and 16. v In the preferred "members 19 and 20. It will be noted that the suspending member is somewhat longer than the suspending member 19, so

that when the carriage is placed upon the inclined track formed by the cable 11, the

platform 25 will assume a horizontal posi-- tion. If desired, suitable braces 26 may tconnect the members 15 and 16 to the con verging parts 22 and 23 of the suspending members 19 and 20. The cable 11 has its upper end so arranged that when the car riage 14 is adjacent the derrick, the plat-.

form 25 is approximately even with the run- ,around 10, A breakable string or cord 27 is fastened to the carriage and to the derrick for releasably maintaining the carriage .14; adjacent the derrick. I

'It will be readily appreciated that the derrick man, if the well should come in as a gaser or gusher, can step out on to the run-around 10'from within the derrick, can place himself upon the carriage 14, and

when his weight is placed thereon, the? breakable string 27 will break, allowing the carriage with the derrick man thereon to coast down the cable 11 toward the anchor Y 13, so that in'this manner he can be easily and quickly taken out of the derrick and carried to a location remote from its base.

As previously stated, another object of this invention is to provide an improved brakingmeans for-the' carriage. It will be readily appreciated that the carriage upon moving down so steep an incline will gather considerable speed. The brakemust be of such a nature that the carriage will not stop with a jerk, which would throw the derrick man. out of the carriage. .My improved 7 brake, which I have found works very efficiently, consists of a yoke '28 pivoted as upon a bolt 29 which extends between the members 15 and 16. A small grooved wheel 1 v '30 is mounted'upon the bolt 29 between the arms of t-h'e'yoke and is so arrangedas to provide a small clearance between its pe-i 'at the top of the derrick.

ripheral surface and the cable 11; re alialf inch cable is used, this clearance is preferably about five-eighths of an inch; The The yoke 28 carries a depending handle 31, which can be brought forwardly sons to cause thebottom of the yoke to engage the under side ofthe cable 11. 1 In this manner the bottom of the yoke cooperates with the wheel 30 to form a kink or bend in the cable which frictionally causes the carriage to slow down as it nears the anchor 13. amount of friction depends upon the magnitude of the force applied to the handle 3l by the derrick man resting upon the platform25, I 'f From the above it will be appreciated that an improved safety device is provided for drilling derricks which will greatly elimi nate the loss of life of derrickmen working It will be understood that var'ious changes The a in the detail of construction may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as claims.

I claim: 1. A safety device for drilling derricks defined by. the appended comprising a cable having an end secured to a derrick a substantial distance above,

the ground and the other endanchored to the ground remote from the base of the derrick, a carriage movable upon the cable,

said carriage comprising a pair of grooved wheels, suspending members on whlch said grooved wheels are rotatably mounted, a-

platform support-ed upon said suspending 'members,, one ofthe suspending members being longer than the other, whereby the platform of the carriage will assume an approximately horizontal position while the carriage ison'the inclinedcable, and a breakable cord for relea'sably holding the carriage uponthe cable adj acent the derrick.

2. A safety, device for drilling derricks comprising a cable having one end secured to a derrick a substantial distance above the ground and the other end anchored to the ground remote from the base of the derrick,

a carriage movable upon the cable, said carnage comprising a palr of members d1sposed above the cable upon opposite sides thereof, a pair of grooved .wheelsrotatably mountedfbetween said members, suspending v members secured to said members, and: a platform supported upon said suspendlng 'members, means for releasably maintaining the carriage-adjacent the derrick, and braktween the first mentioned members, and a handle, for the yoke for swinglng it into frictional engagement with the cable.-

3. A safety device for drilling de'rricks- 'mg; means comprising a yoke pivoted be-v comprising a cable having one end secured to a derrick a substantial distance above the ground and the other end anchored the 1,566,555 Q groilnd remote from the base ofthe derrick, between, the first mentioned members, a a- ,carriage movable upon the cable, said roller rotatable upon said spindle, a yoke carriage comprising apair of members dispivoted upon the spindle, a handle secured posed abovethe cable upon opposite sides to the yoke, the cable passing between the 5 5 thereof, a pair of grooved wheels rota-tably- .oke and roller whereby upon swinging thev 'mounted between said members, suspending andle, the yoke. will be caused 'tolift the members ,secfi'red to" said members, and "a cable against the roller andto cooperate platform supported upon said suspendingwith the roller -to kink or bend the cable,

members, means for releasablymaintaining In testimony whereof I haye signed my the carriage adjacent the derrick, and brake name -to this specification. A v ing means comprising a spindle extending ALVY ADELBERT BROWN, 

